Recording Details

Abstract

Centuries of astronomy and cosmology have led to an ever-larger picture of our ‘universe’ — everything that we can observe. For just as long, there have been speculations that there are other regions beyond what is currently observable, each with diverse histories and properties, and all inhabiting a ‘Multiverse’. A nexus of ideas from cosmology, quantum gravity, and string theory lead to the prediction that we inhabit one of the most interesting sorts of Multiverses one could imagine: one that arises as a natural consequence of compelling explanations for other physics, and one that at least in principle can be tested with observations. In this talk, I will outline these ideas, and discuss the first observational tests of the Multiverse using data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.